The Supreme Court on Friday sought the response of the Central government on a public interest litigation (PIL) petition seeking enforcement of omnibus measures for the welfare of farmers including a price stabilisation fund [Agnostos Theos vs Union of India and anr].However, a Bench of Justices Surya Kant and KV Viswanathan orally told petitioner Agnostos Theos, who is the Managing Director of The Sikh Chamber of Commerce, to do better research and buttress and strengthen the claims in the plea"You need to do better homework, research. The pleadings are evasive. Have you read expert reports? Are you for farmers or sugar lobby?", Justice Kant asked during the hearing.Justice Viswanathan weighed in saying,"Who will fund it (prince stability fund)? Centre?"The petition, filed through advocate Mridula Ray Bharadwaj, said that the Central government has not taken any effective measures to reduce hunger and end agrarian distress."The prices of agricultural commodities in the international market have been widely fluctuating due to discriminatory policies followed by the larger players like the USA and the European Union ... the cheap import of agriculture products from the US and EU threatens the livelihood of the farmers," it was submitted.Thus, the petitioner said that there should be a national policy for farmers and the government should negotiate better with the World Trade Organisation.Pertinently, it was submitted that a price stabilisation fund should be set up to mitigate fluctuating prices of crops.Further, the petitioner said that there should be an agriculture cess along with the establishment of a common agricultural market platform for productive sale of crop yield.The Supreme Court had earlier refused to entertain a plea by the same petitioner seeking directions to the Central and State governments to consider the demands of farmers who have been protesting for enactment of a law guaranteeing a minimum support price (MSP) for various crops.
TAGS: Supreme Court PIL farmer welfare price stabilisation fund agricultural policy international trade agricultural cess
